22 People Not Celebrating Christopher Columbus [TWEETS]

Today marks the 79th time that America has celebrated Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer credited in many history books with discovering “the new world,” when his ship The Santa Maria landed in The Bahamas in 1492. But the Federal Holiday has been receiving backlash for years.

In the spirit of de-romanticizing American history, there has been a growing movement to call what what happened to the native Americans what it was–theft, enslavement and mass murder. In fact, in several state they have renamed the second monday in October “Indigenous Peoples Day” recognized the victims of Columbus’ “discovery.”

In 2009, Nu Heightz Cinema released a PSA entitled “Reconsider Columbus Day,” urging people to reflect on Columbus’s true legacy. “With all due respect,” the various Native American narrators intoned, “there’s been an ugly truth that has been overlooked for way too long.”